Of the Grand Canyon, Mark writes:
But the the canyon really is amazing. There are a few things in this world that really must be seen — in person — to be believed. I think the Redwoods are on that list. Manhattan, in my opinion, is another. The Grand Canyon must be seen. It must be hiked. It must be experienced to really gronk it.
This is perfectly true. I often describe the Grand Canyon as “the least disappointing thing I’ve ever seen.” That sounds like I’m damning it with faint praise, but I mean to do quite the opposite. Sometimes, you see things that you have long been told were incredible — or that look incredible in photographs — and they are underwhelming. Mount Rushmore is a good example of this. So is the Alamo. But the Grand Canyon? The Grand Canyon looks so much better in real life than in photographs that it’s almost impossible to convey the difference. I have hundreds of photos of the thing, all taken with a nice DSLR camera, and they’re all garbage by comparison. Even the best professional photos I’ve seen are hollow. Whatever you do, you simply can’t capture with a camera the scale, the depth, or the many layers of color that are on offer. You can’t catch how the light hits it. You can’t replicate that odd feeling you get in your feet when you shuffle toward the edge and look down. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon six times, and it’s never got old. The last time I was there — in about 2011 — I can remember saying to my friend, “we just showed up here in a Jeep, with a hotel room booked, and with cell phones charged. Imagine what the pioneers must have felt when they got to it and realized they had to go around — or through.”